Paper-fastener.



PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1905.

E. G. ANDREWS.

PAPER FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1904.

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PAPER-FASTENER- Specification of Letters Patent.

JE'atenteol Sept. 12, 1905.

Application filed November 25, 1904. Serial No, 234,191.

T to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMORY C. ANDREWS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sheet-metal fastening devices for securing together a plurality of separate sheets of paper, and has particular reference to improving the construction of such fasteners for the purpose of increasing their range of usefulness and reducing their weight and the expense of making them. I accomplish these objects by the device shown in the'accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of a paper-fastener con structed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows the first steps of connecting a plurality of sheets of paper at one corner by means of a clip of the form shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows the fastening in its closed form.

In the form shown in the drawings the paper-fastener consists of a substantially circular plate 3, of sheet metal, having a slot 4 extending across the same at one side of its center and terminating at points intermediate of and equally distant from o posite sides of the plate. The plate 3 has a so a pair of branch slots 5 extending transversely from opposite ends of the slot 4 into the larger portion of the plate 3 and cutting therefrom the tongue 6, which is connected to the plate 3 at the ends of the branch slots 5 and which is free from said plate at its other end. The slots 5 are Wedge-shaped, having their Wide ends adjacent to the slot 4. The inner edges 7 of the branch slots 5 are substantially parallel with each other, and their outer edges 8 are curved and converge toward each other in the direotion of the narrow ends of said branch slots 5. The edges 8 of the slots 5, as may be seen from the drawings, are so curved or bent as to lie substantially at right angles to each other at the points 9 near the narrow ends of said slots and to more clearly approach parallelism at the points where said edges meet the slot 4. The edges 8 are also disposed eccentrically of the outer periphery of the plate 3 and are so arranged as to approach said periphery most closely at points in alinement with the slot 4. The

plate 3 is preferably crimped at 10 along the line of the slot 4 to a circular transverse curvature, as shown in Fig. 2, to permit of closing the parts 11 and 12 of the plate 3 against each other without unduly straining the metal and weakening the same.

The fastener is adapted to be stamped complete in a single operation, the dies being so formed as to form the crimp 10 to bend the tongue slightly out of the plane of the part 12 and to set the parts 11 and 12 at a slight angle to each other, as shown in Fig. 2.

The purpose of the wedge-shaped formation of the branch slots 5 is to permit of a great range in the thickness of the sheets of material which are to be fastened together. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that when the fastener is placed over the corner of a plurality of sheets, with the tongue 6 on one side of said sheets and the part 11 of the plate on the other side, then the sheets are not bent at all between the points 9 and the corner of the 9 sheets. The slots 5 at the points 9 need therefore be only of sufficient width to accommodate the thickness of the pile of sheets. Between the points 9 and the slot 4, however, the sheets are bent to a waved line over the sides of the plate 3 and under the tongue 6. The distortion of the sheets is greatest after the plate is bent to its final form, as in Fig. 4, when the tongue assumes a position more nearly in the plane of the member 12. The part of the sheets which is opposite the tongue is forced out of the plane of the parts at each side of the tongue. The greater width of the slots 5 at their junction with the slot 4 permits the fastener to be bent to its finalform with a minimum distortion of said sheets. When the parts 11 and 12 of the clip are bent upon each other, the parts 11 and 12 will lie closely against the opposite faces of the folded sheets, all of the bending taking place in the crimped parts 10 of the plate. The form of the slots which is shown in the drawings has another advantage over a mere U- shaped slot of uniform width in that the die for punching the former will be of great strength, even when formed with substantially parallel sides for a considerable distance from the cutting-face, thus greatly increasing the life of the machine for making the fasteners, and consequently decreasing the expense of manufacturing fasteners.

The operation of the device shown is as follows: The fasteners are delivered to the user in their open form, as shown in Figs. 1 and ITO To apply one of the fasteners to a plurality of sheets of paper, the fastener is slipped over one of the corners of the pile of sheets with the tongue 6 and the part 11 on opposite sides of the sheets, as shown in Fig. 3. The part 12 is then bent down upon the paper opposite the part 11 to the position shown in Fig. 4, the crimping at 10 insuring that the fastener bends at those points. It will be readily seen that the fastener need not necessarily be used upon the corners of the sheets, but that a plurality of fasteners may be used for fastening together one of the edges of thepile of sheets by passing the tongue 6 over such edge and folding the sheets along the line of the slots 4 of the series of fasteners.

It will be seen that some of the details of the construction shown may be altered without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Apaper-fastener comprising a thin plate having therein a main slot and having a pair of branch slots extending toward one side from said main slot to form a tongue between said slots, said branch slots being wedge-shaped and having their wide parts adjacent to the main slot, and the outer edges of said branch slots being arranged to converge toward the attached part of said tongue and to approach theperiphery of the plate most close y at points substantially in alinement with the main slot, substantially as described.

2. A'paper-fastener comprising a thin plate having therein a main slot and having a pair of branch slots extending toward one side from'said main slot to form a tongue between said slots, the outer edges of said branch slots being curved or bent and converging toward the attached part of said tongue and each being arranged to approach the outer periphcry of the plate most closely at points substantially in alinement with the main slot,

bent and converging toward the attached part of said tongue, said branch slots being arranged eccentrically of the periphery of the plate and arranged to approach the periphery most closely at points near the main slot, substantially as described.

4. Apaper-fastener comprising a thin plate having therein a main slot and having a pair of branch slots extending toward one side from said main slot to form a tongue between said slots said branch slots being wedge-shaped and having their wide parts adjacent to the main slot, said plate being crimped in alinement with the main slot to permit of beingbent along said slot without weakeningthe metal through such bending, substantially as described.

Signed at Chicago this 23d day of N ovem ber, 1904.

EMORY O. ANDREWS.

Witnesses:

E. A. RUMMLER, Runow RUMMLER. 

